US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft. Photo: Reuters / Kevin Lamarque.

The American envoy to the United Nations singled out the Iranian regime on Tuesday for criticism in a statement marking International Human Rights Day.

Ambassador Kelly Craft said, “Unfortunately, there remain many places in the world where these rights and freedoms are a distant dream.”

“It is true in Iran, where security forces have killed hundreds of protesters, tortured dissidents, and jailed innocent citizens,” she added.

Kraft also commented on the situation in Syria, where, she noted, “the Assad regime, supported by its Russian and Iranian allies, continues to inflict terrible harm on the Syrian people.”

Furthermore, Craft slammed China, which “has arbitrarily detained more than one million Uighurs and members of other Muslim minority groups since April 2017, as well as persecuted Tibetan Buddhists, Christians, and other people of faith,” and Venezuela, where “the illegitimate Maduro regime continues to subvert the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination.”

“The drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights made clear that human rights are universal rights, guaranteed to all people, at all times,” Craft said. “Until that goal is fully realized, the United States will continue to serve as a beacon to those yearning for freedom.”